Broken

Dinner

"Dinner?" John asked
"Are you asking me out on a date?" I asked and my cheeks flared
"7pm? is that good" he said half giggling
"7 it is" I said as a spiral of joy shot through
"It isn't a date miss, Sky misses you and..." he said and paused and I began laughing
"That sounds like a thin veiled excuse" I said laughing
"you got me there"he said then laughed a little
"For sure I did" I sounded provocatively
"I have to round up with the cooking ...7pm right" he said then hung up before I could change my mind.
As he hung up I heard my mum clear her throat from behind, I turned facing her and she did nothing but smile. She smiled and her dark eyes brightened up though they looked weak. Her smile said it all. I looked at her wondering what I did to deserve her but couldn't figure it out minus her ill health she still kept her smiles pasted on her face

I stood in front of the mirror trying to figure out what to wear. I was getting all tensed, my sweaty palms were enough evident. My mum laid on the bed as she watched me grumble in frustration
"Show some skin out, you have great legs" My mum said
"Just tell me what looks better on me" I said raising up 2 dresses I had tried on earlier
"If I go for that(she pointed the dress on my left hand) i'm sure you'll end up fidgeting with the dress all through the night, If you feel good you'll look good" she said calmly
I decided on a fitted black straight cut gown.

Wearing the sheath dress with a metallic 3 strap sandals wasn't a bad idea, I thought as I walked out of the cab
"Thank you" I said with a smile pasted on my face as I paid him
The uniformed man ushered me in as usual
"You look stunning Miss" he said with his eyes fixed on me
"It must be the makeup" I said as my cheeks flared up, not of embarrassment but of flatter
he shook his head in disagreement and we both laughed
Standing ahead of us was John, he still had an apron on. I laughed at the sight of his attire
"Tell me you got all dressed up for me" he said half joking
"Speaking of dressed up, you ain't looking bad yourself" I said and we both laughed
He gestured me to move in a different direction
"that isn't the way" I said
"Oh! she knows my house better" he laughed
I did nothing but laugh too
"You plan on assassinating me" I said pretending to sound scared
"I couldn't even if I wanted to" he said glancing flirtatiously
I pulled my hand from his and created some distance a wave of uneasiness hit me.
"Could I at least see Sky?" I asked
"Sure, just look up" he said trying to ease the tension he sensed
I smiled trying not to ruin the moment.
We move in and almost immediately Sky skipped to where we stood
"Aunt Lisss" She screamed as she smiled
"Yeahhh Skyyyy" I mimicked her and she laughed
"Dad didn't..." before she could finish John covered her mouth his hands and lifted her up
"You promised" He said as he tingled her
"Daaaad stop, I won't " she said half laughing begging him to stop
"Okay someone tell me what's going on" I said trying to sound upset
Sky covered her mouth with her hands like she was protecting the words from escaping
"I brought you Chocolate Sky but..."
"Dad sorry but she brought Chocolate" Sky said
"Sky I got you chocolate too" John said pretending to sound betrayed
"This is bigger" she said laughing
"Sky" John said surprised by her choice of words
"I'll confess before she spills the beans" John said
Sky did nothing but giggle
"Dad didn't cook, Nana did and he said I should tell you he did but I won't tell " She said innocently
"you just did" John said carrying her up and tingling her, I laughed as I watched them play
"Busted" Nana said as she moved to where we were
"You guys are the worst buddies ever" John said as he removed the apron
"what a good planner, and he wore an apron" I teased
I felt that belly pain you have while laughing too much
Sky was a whole mood

I could see bright fluorescent lamps as we moved towards the garden. oh my! I screamed in my head
I sat on the chair he pulled out
"Gentleman" I teased him
"You could add that to my CV" he said jokingly
we both laughed
"Did I tell you, you look dashing" His blue eyes found mine, I didn't escape the gaze like always
"Yh, You just did" I said
"Is that makeup I see" he said teasingly
"No I think it's upmake" I snapped trying to sound angry
"Enough with the teasing already" I said as my stomach grumbled
"Okay, so shall we" he said
"Yeah, I'm starving" The words escaped from my lips
"Let me serve you then" before I could deny, he rose from his chair and filled my plate
"I wanted to take the credits for cooking but Sky ruined the whole plan" he said laughing
"Poor you" I teased him

Here I was talking with my mouth full then i remembered my mum's tips
elbows off the table, chew with your mouth shut, don't talk with your mouth full, use paper napkins blablablabla, the rules were so many
He didn't seem to mind because we both spoke with food filled in our mouths
"Red wine" he said pouring some to my glass
I was a wine virgin and honestly didn't want to admit it So all I did was stare at the glass
"I actually wanted us to talk  about something"John said and I tensed up
"O...kay" I stammered a little then sipped the wine. Not bad, I said as I swallowed, though not out loud
"I think you are a nice person" he said
I smell a speech, I said in my head, One I wasn't ready for. I sipped the wine again
"Thank you" I replied
"I don't want to rush you. I know I messed up from the beginning and I am sorry. I rushed things with Abigail before and I ended up signing divorce papers, this time I want to take things slow, I'm ready to wait. Anything worth having is worth waiting for and you are all I want" he said
"John" I called out
"Shhhhh I want you to think about it, I'm not promising you to be perfect but I  promise to remember that neither one of us is perfect and try to see perfection from your imperfections" the heart warming words slipped from his lips, his blue eyes fixed in mine
The buzzing sound of my phone got my attention
"please excuse me" I pleaded then answered the call
"Mum" I said
"Lis, help" I barely could hear her
"Mum are you okay, what's happening?" I tensed up immediately, she said nothing
"Mum! Mum!" I screamed
I knew something was wrong she must have passed out.
I grabbed my purse as the call ended. My eyes watering
"Are you okay Lis?" John said as he stood up
"Ambulance" That's all I could say as salty tears dropped to my cheeks
"My mum" I went on
"Call them please, no I have to go" I said confused
"Calm down, we'll go there together. I will call the ambulance, let me grab my keys" he said as he moved away making a phone call

I felt my world crumbling